Mortgage Fraud Affects Many

A mortgage fraud in Kansas City was found out, and the man responsible was sentenced to more than 12 years in a federal prison. The fraud affected so many homes and people, the prosecuting lawyer compared him to a hurricane.

A Kansas City man was found guilty of one of the largest mortgage schemes to hit the populated city. The mortgage broker convinced individuals to purchase investment properties, which he originated with his own mortgage brokerage, telling them that they would not be financially responsible for the property. He would then obtain an inflated appraisal of the property, collect the mortgage funds for the house, and walk away from the deal with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The mortgage payments and homes would be the responsibility of the individual, who had no notice of the debt. The homes would often fall into disrepair, or lead to a foreclosure damaging the borrowers credit. The scam came to light when a few of the victims found out about the properties and attempted to either sell them or refinance the property to lower the payments. Some of the properties were so neglected they had to be torn down, costing not only the owners, but the tax payers of the city. \r\n